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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has downplayed a blistering attack by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth who described European allies as “shameful” for not helping the US in the war in Iran.
Hegseth was in Brussels for a meeting of NATO defence ministers, where he informed allies the Pentagon will review the number of US forces in Europe within the next six months.
Announcing the details of what he described as “NATO 3.0”, Hegseth also told allies the US would reduce its contributions to overall NATO budget if countries weren’t on track to spend 5 percent of GDP on defence by 2035. The alliance agreed to the new spending commitment at last year’s summit at the behest of US President Donald Trump.
“Our annual NATO dues will be contingent on other countries meeting their defence spending targets,” Hegseth said on Thursday. “Where other allies do not spend with urgency our due contributions will go down.”
He also warned the US will be keeping a “close eye” on allies who are not on the right course.
Ahead of the meeting, NATO countries had hoped the Trump administration’s mood might improve after the White House signed off on a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending hostilities in Iran, But any hopes of a reconciliation were dashed when Hegseth denounced the alliance as a “paper tiger”.
The Pentagon chief used his appearance to declare it “shameful” that countries such as Spain, Italy and France refused the US military to bases and skies as part of the Iran war.
Germany gave full access to the US military to its base at Ramstein, but Trump took serious umbrage when German Chancellor Frederic Merz criticised the strategy behind the war as “ill-conceived”.
Trump responded by posting on his social media platform that he was pulling 5,000 US troops from Germany.
In the spirit of US Vice President JD Vance’s similarly harsh criticisms of European society, Hegseth also said Europe had been too focused on climate change and gender equality and blamed immigration for a supposed civilisational collapse.
“Instead of tanks and fighters and air defences, the focus has been on gender equity and climate change and defence austerity,” he said. “Europe’s borders flew wide open, welfare states expanded, defence budgets cratered. Along with Europe’s belief in itself and its civilisation.”
‘We need to speak the truth’
In a press conference following Hegseth’s remarks, Rutte insisted to journalists that Hegseth had also acknowledged allies had upped their game and had spent a historic €90 billion-plus in extra spending in 2025 alone.
“But you’ll still find some allies holding back a bit, and what [Hegseth] tried to do today was keep the pressure on, and that’s good,” said Rutte. “I’m happy he does this, Because we need to speak the truth to each other.”
There is a strong consensus among NATO officials and member states that the US’s latest moves are designed to punish Europe for its lack of support over Iran.
In recent weeks, the US told allies it would cut access to a range of capabilities for use by the alliance during wartime through NATO’s so-called Force Model.
Everything linked to deep strike capabilities will be cut, Euronews has learned, including US long-range bombers such as the B2 and B-52. Naval assets, including missile-launching submarine and aircraft carriers, will also be withdrawn and redirected to other theatres.
Rutte said any force reduction plan would be part of structured process and in full consultation with allies and NATO military planners, including the Supreme Allied Commander Europe.